Meme-morialized
By Abby Kimball, Normal Community High School
November 16, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
The quantity of empty lockers around NCHS has resulted in students using them to make mock shrines of actors who are not dead. Prior to the start of each school year, the school administration surveys the students regarding their preference for a locker. This has since resulted in a numerous amount ...
‘Courting Darkness’ draws readers in with unique plot elements
By Andrea Butler, Carlmont High School
November 16, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
Elaborate ball gowns, a world of luxury, and a forbidden love story are all elements you’d find in a typical historical fiction book. However “Courting Darkness” embodies a storyline that includes none of those elements. The novel by Robin LaFevers brings realistic historical factors into a genre d...
Evolution of Rap Lyrics
By Jordan Avila and Franco Chavez
November 15, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
Hip-hop, specifically rap, has become one of the most mainstream styles of music with millions of fans all over the world. When rap first rose to popularity, there were many different styles people used, which made rapping unique. Nowadays, that’s not the case. As generations evolve, so does music,...
Fortnite fever sweeps WHHS
By Owen Cummings, Walnut Hills High School
November 15, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
Five Nights at Freddy’s. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Minecraft. Three multi-million dollar games, and Fortnite has surpassed or is on track to be worth more than each of them. Trailing Minecraft by 4 million copies, Fortnite has sold 140 million copies and is expected to make a collective $2 ...
‘Honey’: Robyn makes a sweet comeback
By Timothy Stolp, Lincoln High School
November 14, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
Eight years since her last solo album, Robyn reclaims her place in the world of underground, melancholic dance pop: the throne. With a considerably foreground reputation, Robyn’s fascination with synths and bizzare sampling sets her apart from many of her contemporaries. Robyn is often compared to ...
The show must go on
By Harshita Avirneni, Vandegrift High School
November 9, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
Nerves filled the air as the actors paced back and forth, as the circumstances were not what was expected back in September when rehearsals had first started. Everyone was anxious, rerunning lines and going over blocking. The lights dim and the curtain opens, the show must go on. Homeschooled sen...
Double The Trouble: Two Casts Of Clue Take To The Stage
By Grace Wallis, St. Dominic High School
November 7, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
The task of bringing the murder, mystery and mania of Clue Onstage to life as St. Dominic’s 2018 fall play was one which was immediately daunting. Upon the record arrival of talent at auditions, director Melfreya Findley made the decision to turn one cast into two. In an effort to incorporate all...
Florence + The Machine lived up to its high hopes
By Jacqueline Sumida, Downers Grove South High School
November 7, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
After urgently texting my friends, holding tickets for a half-hour and dropping $300, I finally got to see Florence + The Machine in concert at United Center on Oct. 19. As an avid Florence fan since the 2015 masterpiece “How Big How Blue How Beautiful,” this was the event of a lifetime for me. We...
Hippo Campus and The Districts bring an electric performance to The Pageant
By Sabrina Bohn, Parkway West High School
November 2, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
Excited chatter filled the room as fans flowed into The Pageant Tues. Oct. 9, impatiently waiting for The Districts, a Philadelphia based rock band, to open up the show for the even more anticipated Hippo Campus, an indie band from Minnesota. With the release of their new album “Bambi” Sept. 28,...
Money Mitch opens up about music, dreams
By Hartley Hill, H.B. Plant High School
November 1, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
Mitchell Holmes hops on stage, the beat drops and fans in the crowd go wild as they begin singing along to the local rap artist known to most as Money Mitch. What seems like a fantasy to most sophomore boys is just a normal Saturday night for Holmes, pursuing his dream to be famous while continuing to...
Chris Wooding takes a turn for the epic
By Ian Fertig, Starr's Mill High School
October 31, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
Talented sci-fi and fantasy author Chris Wooding recently released “The Ember Blade,” a massive epic fantasy. This latest release was a magnificent first installment in what is destined to become one of the greatest fantasy series ever. Welcome to Ossia, a sprawling nation under the control of the ne...
Beloved characters return to screen with Supernatural’s 14th season
By Pramika Kadari, Coppell High School
October 31, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
On Thursday, the 14th season of “Supernatural” premiered with the episode “Stranger in Strange Land”, and although it had interesting aspects, it did not drown me in a plethora of emotions like many other “Supernatural” episodes have. Before the curtains of the previous season closed,...
What makes a good horror movie
By Owen Cummings, Walnut Hills High School
October 30, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
“I am...Dracula. I bid you… welcome.” These seven words uttered in 1931 by Bela Lugosi in Universal’s Dracula undoubtedly changed the way horror movies were produced. One of the first large-scale horror movies made in the United States, it delivered a substantial paycheck to Universal, and is ...
Nerdy games are cool again
By Kristen Choi, California High School
October 30, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
Any true self-professed “nerd” is familiar with the predecessors of all geeky games: “Dungeons and Dragons” and “Magic: The Gathering.” Despite the popularity of the games decades ago, D&D and “Magic: The Gathering” were notorious for their cult following of nerds who were...
Theater 4 goes Hollywood
By Sierra Randel, California High School
October 30, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
Lights, camera, action! With the addition of a Theater Arts 4 class at Cal High, students passionate about drama can now pursue a more advanced level of acting and receive the opportunity to take acting classes in Hollywood. Unlike other theater classes offered at Cal, the new class allo...
Move Aside “The Kissing Booth”: Lana Condor Shines in New Netflix Rom Com
By Taila Lee, Woodside High School
October 30, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
Growing up, I watched High School Musical and Hannah Montana like everyone else. I didn’t realize until elementary school that none of the stars I admired looked like me. Yes, I had role models. No, I didn’t have relatable role models. Over the summer, I worked at a library where I handed out free b...
Do You Hear the People Sing? It’s Coming From the PAC
By Emilie Anderson, Sage Creek High School
October 29, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
By this time next month, the majority of students at Sage Creek will be confirming the last details of their Halloween plans, carving pumpkins or picking out scary movies to watch with friends. The minority, however, are the theatre kids, who will be preparing for something very different, but just as...
‘Sierra Burgess’ really is, in fact, a big loser
By Kelly Wei, Coppell High School
October 29, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
The following review may contain spoilers. Following the surprise success of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, it seems the rom-com genre is back on the rise. After falling off the radar for a few years, audiences have come to once again adore light-hearted fluff and sweet romances, wrapped ne...
The Story Behind Entertainment Corps’ 1,001 Stories
By Emilee Klein, Woodbridge High School
October 29, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
Figures in bright red, purple and sea green Arabian outfits paint the sky with blue flags and graceful leaps to a soundtrack of mystery and excitement. The Entertainment Corps takes you to an Arabian night with their new theme, “Scheherazade: 1,001 Stories Told.” The field show is based off of the piece, ...
From a kid with a toy to a champion with a platform
By Natalie Dunlap, West High School
October 29, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
He was given a 3x3 Rubik's cube eight years ago. With a few twists it could go from a colorful mess to an organized block of color. He became fascinated with turning the scrambled squares back into their perfect form. “I was interested then, but it was really brief and I just sort of played wit...
“Dear Pretty People,”
By Daniela Esquenazi, A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts
October 29, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
It’s usually on Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram where we see the irony—a beautiful person posting a picture of themselves with the caption, “Ugh, I’m so ugly.” These photos are taken flawlessly, precisely during golden hour. Their hair is glowing with the vibrant rays of sunlight, their eyes tw...
Acting out her part
By Stephanie Rosas, Lewisville High School
October 29, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
The sound of her heart pounding reaches her ears as she walks into a room full of kids ready to audition. She receives her name tag with her audition number and waits 15 agonizing minutes for her name to be called, while nerves rush through her body. A theater student older than her walks in and cal...
Zoe Medlin’s art displayed in D.C.
By Maira Nigaar, California High School
October 26, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
Vibrant colors fill junior Zoe Alyse Medlin’s world as she paints her life, one stroke at a time. Medlin, a self-taught artist who takes her passion for art outside of school, regularly creates paintings that are representative of ideas or experiences that interest her. Last ye...
The Benefits of Bloom
By Chloe Postlewaite, Woodside High School
October 26, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
In eighth grade, while listening to Troye Sivan’s music for the first time, I wondered why it sounded so different from everything I was used to. Then I realized: I had never heard any music about queer people. Growing up, I rarely saw any form of LGBTQ+ representation, and I had never learned ...
Senior oboist Gwyn Allendorph works to make her passion a career
By Nell Jaskowiak, Parkway West High
October 26, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
If you want to find senior Gwyn Allendorph, check a practice room, a stage in Webster Groves or perhaps Powell Hall. An accomplished oboist, Allendorph is currently in four symphonic orchestras and has represented the school in the All-Suburban and All-State Bands. This passion and drive for musi...
Junior Andrew Jolly and senior Ali Yumuk release debut rap album
By Lydia Roseman, Parkway West High
October 26, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
Sparked by a shared interest in music and their favorite rapper Logic, senior Ali Yumuk and junior Andrew Jolly, wrote, recorded and produced their own rap album. After meeting for the first time, the two realized their shared passion and a collaboration began. “I met Ali in ASL class on the f...
Madam Secretary: A Bipartisan Dream
By Uma Bhat, Green Hope High School
October 24, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
The fifth season of “Madam Secretary” began airing on CBS October 7th, 2018. Despite a significant drop in ratings during the fourth season of the acclaimed show, Madam Secretary has consistently had not only a strong viewership, but also an increasingly bold view on politics -- one that might just be needed in the real world. “I’m fully prepared to ...
‘Sweetener’ review: Grande’s fourth album is anything but bland
By Anthony Cesario, Coppell High School
October 18, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
“It’s kind of about bringing light to a situation or to someone’s life, or somebody else who brings light to your life or sweetening the situation,” Ariana Grande told Jimmy Fallon in May, after revealing the title of her fourth studio album to be Sweetener. The title felt appropriate; with...
Evan Ajuria becomes the youngest to sell at the Art and Wine Festival
By Leela Stuepfert, Carlmont High School in Belmont, California
October 18, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
At an art show, one wouldn't expect to find a teenager selling their artwork, but a sophomore from Carlmont has strived to break that stereotype. The annual Art and Wine Festival, held in San Carlos, assembled various individuals to sell their works of art. Evan Ajuria, a sophomore, was among them. ...
“Next Up, RYANVIII:” Junior Ryan Dowling is making waves in the music world
By Christina Taxiarchis, Wayland High School
October 18, 2018
Filed under Arts & Entertainment
To most people other than the 1600 or so followers he has accumulated on SoundCloud, the name "RYANVIII" may not be a common one. However, that may change in the near future. Junior Ryan Dowling, who goes by RYANVIII in the music world, started producing songs at age 15 and has already made himself known...